Ancelotti to read riot act to fallen stars

CHELSEA manager Carlo Ancelotti has scheduled an emergency meeting with his players on Thursday to analyse what went wrong during a humiliating home defeat against Sunderland but has refused to accept he needs to spend in the January transfer window.

Chelsea, without injured John Terry and Frank Lampard and missing suspended Michael Essien, looked a shadow of their normal selves during a 3-0 reverse at Stamford Bridge, in particular in defence where their makeshift partnership of Paulo Ferreira and Branislav Ivanovic was torn to shreds by their opponents.

With Salomon Kalou the only senior player on the bench, they were also unable to change the game when 2-0 down, unlike Manchester United who played just as badly on Saturday but had the squad and spirit to produce a late fightback.

“I think the squad is strong enough,” insisted Ancelotti. “We had some players out in the past and the team still played well. But today was different.

“All the things were wrong and we didn’t play how we wanted. Sunderland showed fantastic spirit and played better.

“I think it was the worst performance since I came here. We never lost like this at home before and the form was poor.

“You have to know in football it can happen if you don’t show the right mentality.

“But if we are able to come back and stay focused on our job, it could be just one poor day.”

On Terry, Ancelotti said: “Terry trained yesterday but, at the end of the training session, he had pain on his nerve in his hamstring and we had the test this morning.

“He was not able to play. I don’t think he will be able to play for the national team (on Wednesday).

“He is out of the squad. He had control of this problem. He never missed a training session, but yesterday the pain was more, so he was not able to play.

“But I think he can play the next game. It is an injury, but he can control it.

“He has controlled it for 12 games. He’s doing good prevention, good treatment. Everything will be okay for him.’’

Ancelotti and the Stamford Bridge faithful will hope yesterday’s display was a one off but with Chelsea’s players heading off on international duty today, the inquest into a terrible performance will have to wait.

“We have to look what went wrong,” said Ancelotti.

“We have to have a meeting about this and to look at what happened today.

“We cannot do it on Monday, we will do it on Thursday. I didn’t shout at the players after the game because I wanted to do it without emotion.’’

Chelsea’s injury problems certainly seem to be mounting.

Ashley Cole joined Terry in pulling out of the England squad last night after he picked up an ankle injury against Sunderland, while Frank Lampard has been ruled out for another three weeks with a groin problem that has now lasted for months.

No wonder Ancelotti believes this is a crucial time in Chelsea’s title campaign.

“I said a month ago the difficult time will arrive, and now the difficulty has arrived. So we have to come back in training, stay more in focus and play better.”

There were also murmurings around Stamford Bridge after the final whistle that Ray Wilkins’ absence was a reason behind Chelsea’s shock loss.

Wilkins was sacked last week and this was the first time they had played since the coach departed, but Ancelotti was not convinced it had any effect on his players.

“It was not a reason,” he said.

“Sunderland played a fantastic game, we played a poor game, we have to do better.”

Sunderland manager Steve Bruce, meanwhile, fears the performances of on-loan stars Nedum Onuoha and Danny Wellbeck, who both scored at Stamford Bridge, could make them more difficult to buy. Onuoha is on loan from Man City and Wellbeck from United.

Bruce said: “The sad thing for me is how much will it cost to buy them! Two young loan players and they have done fantastically well. I would love to sign them. We’ll see. We’ve got them for a year and we’ll speak to their clubs nearer the time.’’

“People are so frightened coming here and no one wants to get humiliated, so we thought we’d give it a go. But you still need the players to perform, like Welbeck, at 19, who was terrific. All round, they produced a fantastic performance. I hope people talk about Sunderland rather than Chelsea’s poor performance. It’s not a fluke.”